


Friends, With Benefits

by Irony_Rocks



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-11
Updated: 2010-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-12 14:53:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/126030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irony_Rocks/pseuds/Irony_Rocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Memento Mori.</i> Cameron didn't like the look on Vala's face one bit; like she was figuring out ways to break him in that pretty, scary little head of hers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends, With Benefits

\--x--

"You don't remember me, do you?"

Vala's voice twisted wryly, "I don't remember much of anything. Least of all who I am, or why everyone is after me. That's why I brought you here. You're going to supply me with some much-needed answers."

She emphasized his cooperation by tying the bandage around his arm with more force than was strictly necessary.

Cameron grimaced, testing the strength of his handcuffs for a moment before answering, "Look, Vala, you've got nothing to fear from me. I'm one of the good guys. Your buddy. Your pal."

Something told him she wasn't going to be swallowing the whole buddy/pal routine. She finished fastening the cloth around his arm, and though he felt every tug and knot like someone was digging into his skin, he dazedly confirmed the pain was dulled and dampened. A bullet graze should sting more than this. He drew comfort in the fact that at least Vala was tending to the wound. The woman in front of him couldn't tell him apart of Adam, and though Cameron knew Vala by nature wasn't somebody he feared – not like the Goa'uld or the replicators or the damn Orii – he knew her well enough to worry about what she'd do to him if she deemed him a threat.

"Look, is there any possible way of trusting me here?" he pleaded a little, craning his neck to look at her. "Or giving me my pants back?"

Vala's gaze drifted up to his, staring silently for a second. Cameron dropped his head back onto the pillow with a little thump.

"Take that as no."

"I'm going to ask you questions," Vala replied, "You're going to be a good boy and answer them. We're going to play this game until I'm satisfied with the answers I get, or else…"

Somehow he didn't think she'd take the truth he had to offer at face value. "Or else what?"

Vala tipped her head back and smiled, and Cameron was reminded of every deviously underhanded trick she'd ever pulled in front of him. Vala could be more driven than any other woman he'd ever known. If she wanted something, chances were she'd get it even if she had to lie, cheat, manipulate or downright steal to get what she needed.

One way or another, Vala always got what she was after.

Cameron heaved a sigh and decided to try the straightforward truth. "Okay, here goes. Your name is Vala Mal Doran. You're a member of Stargate Command, a top secret facility located beneath Cheyenne Mountain. It's the command center for a military organization responsible for offworld exploration and reconnaissance by means of a device known as a Stargate, a portal which allows near-instantaneous transport between planets."

Vala just stared at him.

"How'm I doing so far?" Cameron tried.

She stretched forward to turn over the dog tags resting against his chest. Her fingers traced the letters of his name lightly before she glanced back up at him with disbelief in her eyes. "Not good," she answered bluntly. "And you're a horrible liar. If you're going to fib, it's better to make up something at least marginally believable. Little green men is not the way to play it."

Cameron rolled his eyes, temper getting the better of him. "Well, excuse me, but I'm not quite as gifted in lying as you." He paused for second, wincing when he realized his misstep. "Not that I'm lying, because you know, I'm not."

Vala nodded graciously, her expression clearly humoring him. After a pause, she rested back in her chair and studied him, her head tilted. "I believe you about one thing. I _am_ a better liar than you. That's something I've learned about myself in the last two weeks of my life. I know what it takes to fabricate stories, twist them around so that you can make people believe virtually anything you say, as long as you say it with a charming smile on your face." She paused, eyes narrowing in contemplation. "And you've got charm, don't you?"

"Uh," Cameron replied, ever-so-elegantly. "No?"

He shifted a little in bed, trying to sit up, but one arm was injured and the other was handcuffed. Maneuverability wasn't possible under the circumstances, and though he knew Vala wouldn't really hurt him – well, he hoped she wouldn't – events were unfolding in a way that was starting to make him nervous. He didn't like the look on Vala's face one bit; like she was figuring out ways to break him in that pretty, scary little head of hers.

"Look, Vala," he tried again, "I'm not a liar. I'm not that good with it. You gotta recognize that, right?"

Vala offered a shrug, "It takes," she began, voice lit with a dry humor, "concentration to lie. To think on your feet. I'm trying to judge if you're as dumb and trustworthy as you look."

"Hey!"

"Half of that was a compliment."

"The other half was an insult," Cameron groused. "Now, c'mon. Quit fooling around and uncuff me. Or hand me my pants, woman! Seriously!"

She released a long suffering sigh. "Your pants are safe, Colonel."

"What about the bits they normally cover up?"

Vala arched an eyebrow. "I haven't done anything to the bits yet."

"See? It's the 'yet' part that scares me."

When she rose, Cameron braced himself for anything. It was usually at this point that the hostage taker got mean - a plow across the face or a sharp, pointed tug at the bindings wrapped around his wound. But Vala wasn't the normal run-of-the-mill hostage taker. No, she was still _Vala_. Reaching the mattress, she climbed onto the bed with her legs tucked under her. For a moment, there was a flash of that familiar, devious humor peeking through as she considered his form lying prone on the bed.

Cameron suddenly felt particularly naked, lying there with only a few stitches of clothing covering up his modesty. Granted, he _was_ practically naked, but the issue wasn't so much the lack of clothes as it was the way Vala was looking at him. It wasn't much different from the way Vala always looked at him, really, or any other man that caught her interest. Just intensified.

"You're nervous," she observed with a small, smug smile.

"Am not," he shot back, pretending it was true. "And if I was, I think I've got reason to be. You kidnapped me!"

Her eyes narrowed in contemplation. "But yet still, you're not nervous I'm going to hurt you."

"I told you I'm not nerv—" He barely managed to swallow his words when she shifted to straddle him across the waist. Her weight settled atop of him – not firmly, but enough to have his body tensing with awkwardness. "… vous," he finished lamely.

Cameron recognized dangerous waters. If there was one thing he'd learned about Vala over the years, it was that she had a knack for making men fumble if given even the slightest opening. Cameron usually managed to handle himself just fine, but that was because most of her shameless flirtation was essentially harmless. She saved her big guns for Daniel. Now? Daniel was conveniently elsewhere, and Cameron had the distinct feeling that "harmless" was nowhere on the list of adjectives that applied to Vala's current mood.

Also, there were handcuffs involved. That added an element.

"It takes concentration to lie," she repeated. "Let's just see if we can break that concentration of yours?"

For the first time since waking up, real panic rose.

Cameron swallowed thickly and tried to laugh. "Ah, okay, this is getting a little awkward here."

"Or trust me," Vala muttered in response, splaying a hand against his bare chest. "I haven't even started yet."

This was crossing so many lines, Cameron barely knew where to start. If this had been just some random sultry babe, he'd have dealt with it easily. Cameron would've simply tossed back flippant remarks and bought time until the cavalry showed up. But Vala wasn't just some random hot alien babe. He couldn't even pretend otherwise for the sake of his sanity.

Shit.

"I'm telling the truth. There's no need to play mind games with me, Vala."

Vala, apparently, disagreed. She stretched out, planting her hands on either side of his head, reminding him that it wasn't just his _mind_ she was playing with as her body hovered just above his naked chest. She leaned down to his ear, whispering in that infectious carefree voice of hers, half-sultry and half-amused. "So, we're space explorers?"

Cameron licked his lips. "Well, technically, me and my team are the explorers. You're just… along for the ride, because… Well, you're not originally from this planet; you're an alien."

Vala pulled back and looked down at him. "An alien."

Cameron hedged as best as he could, "And I mean that in the nicest possible way! Y'know, when you say 'alien', people think green skin, four eyes, tentacles, what have you, but the— the reality is very, very different."

Vala nodded, then slid one hand up his torso, skimming fingers against his chest in a way that raised goose bumps across nearly every inch of his damn body. "You know," she whispered as she leaned down again, the other hand braced against the headboard behind him. "Vala doesn't particularly _sound_ like an alien name."

Cameron tried to concentrate on anything other than the tickle of her breath near his ear. "Okay, look, I know this is all a little tough to take in, but don't you think I'd think up a better lie if I was lying to you?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Vala answered, settling her weight more firmly on his groin. He drew in a hiss of a breath and willed his body not to respond, but the move was an underhanded one that Vala knew would work, if only a little. "What exactly do we do on this team of yours?"

"Space exploration," Cameron answered in a vague manner. "You know, go where no man has gone before. That type of stuff."

Vala nodded in a placating manner, flexing her fingers a little where they curled around the bedpost, right next to the spot where Cameron's handcuffs linked him to the bar. He tested the strength of his other arm, but Vala caught wind of the movement and stretched out her free hand to run fingers along his skin, tracing a feathery line from his wrist up to the mesh of bandages.

"And I suppose we've saved the galaxy a few times?" she mused.

"Once or twice," Cameron replied, a little sheepishly. A second later he realized he might be making his case better if he actually _did_ lie a little. A fib might go a long way to helping Vala swallow this pill of reality. "Look, maybe I'm overselling it on the whole galaxy-saviors thing, but we really are the good guys."

"And I should believe you because…?"

"Because I'm your friend, and we're on the same tea—" he broke off with a gasp when she shifted her weight just so, right _there_ , and his body tensed and reacted despite himself.

Vala stared at him closely, watching his eyes, and she seemed almost as if she didn't even care about the response she was eliciting from him. Like she was completely unaffected by what she was doing to him. He shouldn't have been remotely surprised; Vala wielded her sexuality with an intimidating amount of comfort. Nothing made her blush.

"So," she continued with an air of nonchalance, "how long have we known each other?"

He had to think about that one for a moment, because he wasn't really able to do much math in his head under the circumstances. "A little less than two years?"

"What's my favorite color?"

Cameron had no clue. "Red?"

"Wrong," Vala answered brusquely.

In the next moment she shifted against him again, swaying her hips in a way that had Cameron stiffening despite himself. He cursed under his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, warning himself that this was Vala, and she wasn't right in the head – in more than one manner, obviously, but the most important way at the moment was that she had _amnesia_.

Vala, he chanted to himself, his friend.

"You know," he managed in a thick voice, after clearing his throat, "you of all people should know a man would normally say anything in a position like this. The truth doesn't really come out of a guy's mouth when he's being... straddled in bed."

"I'm just trying to make sure you're not thinking up answers as we go along."

"One hell of a punishment system you got set up here!" Cameron snapped. He tried to focus on his anger, but it didn't help. Warmth was rising in his body, spreading redness across his neck and cheeks. The arousal was accompanied by embarrassment and a healthy dose of irritation – both at Vala for placing them in this situation, and at himself for being so easily manipulated. He may have been a guy, but Christ, that didn't mean he had to turn into a teenager every time a beautiful woman mounted his half-naked body.

A moment after the thought arose in his head, he discarded it. Forcibly.

God, he was so screwed.

"You're getting red in the face," Vala observed.

"Surprised there's any blood left going up there?" Cameron volleyed back sourly. "Guess you're losing your touch, huh?"

Vala laughed. "Well, now I know you're lying because I've got pretty hard evidence otherwise."

The old cliché had too much truth behind it for either one of them to deny. The situation would only be complete and the spectacle absolute if the rest of the team picked that moment to barge in to the rescue. But they didn't appear, and then all thoughts of SG-1 flittered away when she rocked her hips hard against his and Cameron's breath hitched, breaking off with a strangled moan that he tried to bite back. Their bodies were separated by his boxers and her pants, but the stroke of her against him was long and potent, surging a shockingly strong sense of lust through his entire body. Jesus, the pressure felt good.

Vala, he repeated to himself, this was his friend Vala.

Somehow the chant didn't dampen his arousal in the slightest.

Cameron's fingers clenched and his eyes snapped open, losing control. His free hand shot out to grab her, ignoring the stab of pain that lanced up his arm. "Stop that," he tried to threaten, but his gruff voice broke a little, and there was just a hint of desperation in his words that made the threat more of a plea. "Just… stop."

She leaned over him, her body almost flush against his. For a moment, pressed chest-to-chest, he wondered if she was going to push him flat on his back and kiss him. And at the moment, a not-so-small part of him wanted her to do just that.

Instead, she merely whispered, "Then tell me the truth. What's my name?"

Cameron gritted his teeth, fingers clenching around her bicep hard enough to bruise. "Vala Mal Doran."

"Where do I come from?"

"Another planet."

That earned him a glare and another rock of her body; Cameron groaned. "How did I get here?"

"The Stargate."

"Which is?"

"A big round ring that goes kawoosh and bridges millions of light years in a second."

"Stop lying to me!" Vala cried with a flash of exasperation. "I want the truth!"

It was the first genuine display of emotions he'd seen from her all day, and Cameron would have been glad of it if it hadn't been promptly followed with a maneuver that yanked his free hand off her body and slammed it back against the mattress. He cursed harshly at the flare of pain, spots of colors dancing behind his closed eyelids. When he finally glanced up at Vala, he saw a flash of guilt skim across her face that was there and gone quicker than a blink of an eye.

"Val—"

She growled in frustration and rolled off him, slipping to the side of the bed and landing against the bedpost. The mattress jostled a bit, and in her wake his boxers were left tented with the evidence of his lack of self-control. When he glanced sideways, he found her legs drawn up against her chest, eyes staring ahead with an intensity that gave him more pause than anything else he'd seen from her today.

"You have no idea what it's like," she breathed in frustration, staring ahead and refusing to meet his eyes, "to stare into the mirror and see a perfect stranger. You can't imagine what that's like."

She stayed quiet for a moment after the confession, and though he had other things still on his mind, he tugged against his restraints and took a moment to imagine how things looked from her point of view. Suffering from amnesia, lost and alone with God knows who trying to hunt her down and kill her. Vala never seemed to catch a break, did she? If it wasn't Goa'ulds after her body, then it was Orii after her baby. It was someone trying to starve her to death. It was betrayal and manipulation and a life of slavery in her own body.

He couldn't help but briefly think that maybe Vala was better off not remembering particular parts of her life, and the thought made him wince harshly.

"I just want to know…" she breathed, but this time her voice dropped several notches in desperation, suddenly sounding too much like a lost little girl for his tastes. Vala was a lot of things, but he'd very rarely ever seen her vulnerable. "Who am I?"

Cameron did what he always did; he responded with the truth. "Vala Mal Doran. You're… you're stubborn and annoying. You manage to stick your nose into things that are none of your business. You drive men up the walls. You manipulate and cheat, and you steal. And I mean steal in a way that should probably land you in prison for a long damn time, but you'd probably just break out of there before the first Tuesday anyway."

"I sound like a marvelous person," Vala snorted, half in disdain and half in self-pity.

Cameron paused. "Then again… you're still one of the most trustworthy people I know."

She slanted him a glance. "That doesn't make any sense."

" _You_ don't make any sense," he argued, without any real bite. "I suppose that's one of the things I like about you the most."

She angled her face towards him, those eyes of hers softening a bit in the dim light. He wasn't sure if this was just another one of Vala's tricks; make him pretend that she was softening before she went in for the kill. He hoped not. For the first time since waking, he actually felt like he was getting through to her.

"So," she recovered with a lick of her lips, "we're friends?"

He nodded. "Really good friends."

A spark of that mischievous humor came back with a vengeance. "Friends… with benefits, maybe?"

He groaned. How the hell did she learn all these Earth euphemisms so quickly? "We're just friends."

Vala nodded slowly. "So, that means I'm involved with someone else?"

"Not technically," Cameron answered, unsure of how to qualify Daniel.

"So, then, you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

Her voice lifted slightly in curiosity. "Boyfriend?"

"No!" he grunted, a little flustered. "Look, we just… we just never went beyond friendship because…" His mind was a complete blank. "…because we're good as friends."

The explanation sounded entirely hollow to his own ears, though objectively he knew it had validity and weight. Over the years, Vala had become one of his closest friends and he wouldn't risk that for anything. SG-1 was more than just a team to him; it was his life. Vala fit into that mold in a way that he'd never explicitly defined, but she mattered and overshadowed plenty of the other women that had skidded through his life.

Which was why any fantasies he'd had about her had stayed buried in his mind. Deeply, deeply buried.

"Friendship," Vala repeated in a tone. "Figures."

He didn't know what was going on in her head, not that he'd ever understood the complexities of Vala's thought processes. But whatever it was, Cameron could tell she was mulling everything over slowly. She slumped back into bed, curling up against him like a lazy cat. The proximity didn't help Cameron's hormones any, which were running amuck with barely any shred of self-control. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and got a whiff of her hair instead. The effect it had on him was ridiculously extreme.

She tipped her head up, met his eyes, and he knew she caught sight of the desire before he could cover it up. When he swiftly glanced away, she tugged his chin back to her immediately. "But if we haven't tried anything else besides friendship," Vala breathed in that tone of hers, "how could we know it isn't right?"

She reached over and cupped his cheek, the intent behind the gesture clear. He had a moment where he could have reacted – pulled away from her advances – but for reasons he couldn't articulate his protests delayed a second too long. She claimed his mouth with hers, the kiss unlike anything like he'd been expecting; though it was unremitting and persistent – just like Vala – the exploration was subtle and softly seductive as well. She moved like she wasn't in any hurry, taking her time to properly taste the flavor of the kiss, and before he'd realized it, his lips were parting way so her tongue could slip inside.

In the back of his head, there was still that small voice in his brain urging him to stop because Vala wasn't playing with all the cards in her deck. She didn't know the full extent of what she was doing; how this would affect them in the end. Except the sheer dark potency of the kiss fogged up his thinking, which was already more than slightly messed up from her earlier exploits, and he couldn't help but notice the deliberate, slow seduction of the embrace proved otherwise.

Vala knew exactly what she was doing.

It was barely milliseconds after this quiet acknowledgment that desire took control and swelled up. He took control of the kiss, lips moving aggressively against hers as he leaned in, no conscious deliberation in the maneuver. Though he could tell she tried to swallow it at the last second, a sound escaped the back of her throat, suspiciously like a moan. The noise did more to undo Cameron than anything else, because clearly she was being affected by this, just like him.

When she finally pulled back, her lips were pink, cheeks flustered, breath slightly labored against him.

"Vala, this—"

"Oh, for the love of…" she trailed off, groaning. She snapped, "Are all Earth men this insufferable?"

He didn't get a single syllable in; not even to the response to her "Earth men" comment managed to pass his lips. Without warning or preamble, Vala climbed on top to straddle him all over again. Except this time she obviously wasn't using the maneuver to tease and frustrate him. She reached for the hemline of her shirt, lifting up and off and before Cameron even comprehended the move, he was staring up at Vala in her small black bra with a familiar, brazen smile on her lips. One of her bra straps slid off her shoulder and Cameron's mind stalled on the thought of hooking a finger under the material and tugging it down.

"So, we've never done this before?"

"No," Cameron managed thickly. "I think I would have remembered."

Vala sounded amused, "Hmm, that makes one of us."

Before he could respond, her mouth was back on top of him, this time forceful and demanding, muffling words of protest until they faded to the background. Though Cameron knew it wasn't the smart way to play it, knew it wasn't the right thing to do, he couldn't help the response. He cupped the back of her neck with his free hand and dragged her down to him even harder, ignoring the spike of pain in his arm in lieu of the pleasure that spasmed up his body when she settled more heavily on top of him. She planted a hand against his bare chest, fingers splayed wide, and the imprint of her palm spread a wave of stimulation over every inch of his body. Then, she rocked her hips again and that friction built as Vala set a slow sway, hips rotating, grinding down on him until he had to tear his mouth away to groan.

A victorious smile blossomed on her face. "Knew that sound was in you somewhere."

She craned her head, using her teeth to tease his ear, her other hand playing with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. He'd nearly forgotten about the handcuffs until he realized he was straining against their hold, wrist turning pink and flustered as he tried to become more active. His free arm – the injured one – didn't offer him much more maneuverability.

"You could uncuff me, you know."

She studied him under half-lowered eyelashes. "Do you want to stop?"

 _No_ , the dark answer came to him with surprising swiftness.

"I want to be able to move," he clarified after a beat.

Instead Vala reached back and pulled her ponytail free, shaking her head to send locks of brunette hair falling loose around her face in a curtain. "Why?" she teased. "When you can just lie back and enjoy?"

"There could be fun in—"

He broke off when she leaned over his bare chest and licked one long sinewy line of his chest with her tongue. Unrelenting, her hips shifted against his again. Cameron yanked against his restraints harder, desperately wanting to be able to touch her back, but when he tried to slide his free hand across the smooth surface of her back, she stopped him before he reached the clasp of her bra.

She pinned down his free hand under her body, and winked. "All in good time."

She slid a hand between their bodies and slipped it under the waistband of his boxers to palm his erection. He choked back a noise, which only seemed to darken the mischievous look blooming in her eyes. She stroked along his shaft, and Cameron groaned, pressing his head back in to the pillow even as his hips lifted off the mattress towards her. Frustrated, he lay prone while she handled him with long, broad strokes, the tension mounting into a thing that was both agonizing and erotic.

She pulled away only to remove his boxers, sliding them down his legs and then idly twirling them around her finger like a prize. "You know, I could do virtually anything to you in this position."

Cameron knew he probably should have feared that, but his pride was pricked. "I'm only handcuffed on one arm," he reminded her.

With a wicked smile on her lips, she scooted lower to straddle his legs, leaning over with her hands skimming up the inside of his thighs. Cameron tried not to let his restlessness show, knowing that was exactly what she was trying to provoke with her teasing, but good Christ, the sight of her leaning over his erection inspired only one craving. He wanted her to take him into her mouth, desperately, the want of it making his breathing heavy with anticipation. Her fingers teased his cock lightly, making his body stiffen. His eyes found the sight of his cuffed hand, and giving it one experimental tug, he was still staring at the metal when he felt her mouth take him in swiftly and suck hard.

Cameron bucked up without any self-restraint. "Fuck, Vala."

She tore her mouth away. "Yes, Cameron?"

She licked his shaft in a low strong stroke, and God, he'd do pretty much anything if she took him back into her mouth again. The next few moments were drawn out with agonizingly slowness as she licked and swirled, never taking him fully in. The process was pure torture, leaving Cameron flustered on the edge of pleasure. Just when he was straining against his restraints until his skin puckered white, she _finally_ took him in again, her tongue doing all manner of amazing things as she worked his shaft. Her hand pumped the base, her tongue gliding across, and Cameron's breathing was choked, face scrunched up in an expression that probably looked like he _was_ going through torture.

It was insanely hard for him not to move. Fighting the impulse to thrust into her mouth, against the restraints on his arm, Cameron felt like he didn't have control over any damn thing. She sucked hard, and the blinding sensation nearly sent him over the edge.

"Vala," he protested. "Stop. Stop."

It took him repeating it a few more times before she actually pulled back, and though the withdrawal left him cursing under his breath, he wouldn't be able to stop if she kept doing that. And that wasn't how he planned to feel release today. Not that he had any of this planned. Vala was his friend; his teammate. Not his lover. But in that moment, those categories were entirely indistinguishable.

There was no going back now.

Vala moved up slightly, climbing up his body until she could rest her chin against his chest. "Such self-restraint," she mused in admiration. "I'm impress—"

In a maneuver he'd used more in the sparring room than in the bedroom, he wrapped his legs around her and twisted, slamming her to the side and a moment later he had the advantage. He brought her body under his, pressed chest to chest, and though it stung like a mother, he held himself up with his free hand planted against the mattress beside her.

"Oh," Vala cooed. "Agile."

He jerked against the restraints experimentally, judging the amount of leeway he had, then shifted lower on her body. "You have no idea," he tossed back, then placed a string of heated kisses over her chest and down her sternum. One hand was cuffed, the other supporting him, which meant he had to get resourceful. He crept back up and used his mouth to bite down on the material of her bra, clenching it between his teeth to tug down. The cloth finally gave way, exposing her breasts one at a time and her nipples hardened against the splash of cool air. "Y'know," he said, when he released the material, "this would work better if I had full maneuverability."

"You seem to be doing just fine," Vala approved with a smirk.

Cameron was tempted to roll his eyes. Instead, he bent to drag his tongue and lips over the swell of her breasts, taking the weight of one into his mouth, suckling on her hardened nipple. She arched like a damn cat as he kept moving over her body, using a quick press of his lower body against hers to remind her of the fact that he was fully hard and aroused, showing remarkable restraint in his actions. She hadn't driven all control out of him. Her hand snagged against the chain of his dog tags as she whimpered, and that sound made Cameron _proud_ ; made him feel ridiculously pleased with himself. He was acutely aware that her fingers were coiling white-knuckled around the metal links as he mouthed her breasts like he was praying to her body.

He shifted down, exploring her skin but he made it to her bellybutton and no further, stopped short because his restrained arm had extended as far as it could get.

Vala flashed a pout of disappointment. "Huh, I seem to see your point now."

He couldn't help it; he had to laugh.

God, this was insane. This was _Vala_ underneath him. He'd thought about this before – what warm-blooded male wouldn't with a girl like Vala? Even if she hadn't traipsed around batting eyelashes and slipping innuendos into every conversation, Cameron's mind would have been preoccupied by fantasies of her often enough. She was as beautiful as she was frustrating, and the real son of a bitch was that he didn't know which part of that equation made her sexier.

Cameron had always liked a challenge.

"So, if I'm an alien," Vala mused, head quirked to one side, "it seems we're apparently still combatable in all the bits and pieces."

"Vala," he began. "Don't take this the wrong way, but banter time is over now."

She pouted. "But that's one of my favorite parts."

"Quiet, you."

"Make me," she teased with a wicked smile.

He curled the cuffed hand around the bedpost and used that for leverage. That freed his other hand to explore, tugging the waistline of her pants down past the swell of her hips. She had cute white panties on, narrow on the sides. He could have used his free hand, but Vala scooted up the bed and Cameron was in reach again. Ducking his head low, he decided using his mouth again was preferable. His clenched the white panties between his teeth, scraping against dark curls of her hair just a little, and Vala rewarded him with a gasp. He grinned as he pulled the material down her thighs, exposing her.

When he glanced up, Vala was watching him, for once the smirk on her face banished by parted lips and heavy breathing. He had her undivided attention now, and it was strange that Cameron suddenly felt such a strong sense of power in that. It was damn near intoxicating to have her looking at him without any of the usual facades and defenses in place. No humor. No teasing. Just desire, stark and naked.

Cameron felt a rush of satisfaction course through him. He leaned over her, nuzzling the flesh of her inner thigh, teasing her slightly to repay the torture she'd put him through earlier. A few moments of light kisses and caresses left Vala fairly growling at him with impatience, pushing her underwear the remaining distance off her legs. He flashed a smirk towards her, and then swiftly ran his tongue, long and hot, right across her folds. She didn't manage to swallow her moan, though he knew the attempt had been there.

He darted his tongue quickly against the swollen flesh over and over again, the flat of his tongue pressing firmly against her. She started to writhe underneath him, thighs clenching and hips rising to rotate against his mouth. He pressed her hips down with his hand, settling heavily with his mouth buried between her thighs. He continued to ride his tongue across her clit, against her flesh, half-aware that her fingers burrowed through his hair and encouraged a quicker pace. The entire time he kept thinking, _Vala, Vala, Vala._ Chanting her name in his head as she kept making those small, incoherent noises from the back of her throat.

She came hard, the swift cry of pleasure escaping as her muscles spasmed around him. The wet taste of her filled his senses and he pulled back as her body shook uncontrollably. He watched as she calmed down, slipping her legs off his shoulders so that her body settled once more against the mattress. Vala rested for a bit, lazy and beautiful, her naked sweat-covered skin glistening against the light in the room. Her chest rose and fell with each intake of breath, and her hair was splayed against the pillowcase like a frame, wild and unruly.

She looked gorgeous and untamed, spread out before him, and though a part of him feared it, Cameron knew the two of them would never recover fully from this moment. It'd marked them.

He clamped his chained hand around the bedpost, leaning over her body as their eyes met, lips inches apart. For a brief moment as Cameron stared down at her, Vala was strangely quiet and still. There was, once again, no amusement sparkling up at him. Instead, somber and aware, she stared up at him with not even a sliver of her normal defenses in place. He didn't know Vala without her facades, without all her humor. He felt like he was seeing her in a whole new light that had nothing to do with the physical, and that knowledge halted him for a beat.

Vala reached up and closed the distance. With a singular, unrepentant demand her mouth moved over his in a kiss that left no room for thought. Her fingers spread through his hair, and they scraped nails across his scalp in the way that drew a small sound from him. He pushed inside of her without breaking that embrace, slowly, deliberately measured it out to extend the penetration as long as possible. Vala broke the kiss off with a gasp and their hips met. He stopped, resting there for a brief moment while her muscles adjusted around him.

When he pulled out and pushed back in, he covered her mouth with a delirious kiss that left both of them gasping for breath long afterwards. She twisted her hand around his dog tags as he set the pace slow, a sheen of sweat already forming over his skin. The rhythm was yet another thing he hadn't been expecting with Vala; it was entirely too slow, too gentle, but somehow it felt appropriate even if the flavor of it alarmed him with its intimacy.

Despite the slow pace, the wave of pleasure rose swiftly in Cameron, who had been denied release thus far. Their movements caused the bedpost to thud lightly against the walls as they shifted, and the feeling building inside him dragged another groan from his lips. Though he wanted to see Vala come while he was inside her, jaw falling open as the pleasure crested, Cameron realized that his own impatience might win first. He pushed in and out faster, harder, watching silently as she swallowed her moans and pressed her head back into the pillows. Her eyes screwed shut, and he could tell by the way her free hand curled white knuckled around bed sheets that she was getting closer and closer to yet another orgasm. He hoped she'd get there first.

Except eventually Cameron needed release so badly, he was straining against the urge. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, the want of relief so potent and overwhelming that Cameron couldn't even steady his thrusts anymore. The hand braced against the bedpost grew drained of energy, extended for so long, and eventually Cameron began chanting "c'mon, c'mon" aloud to Vala without even realizing it.

She opened her eyes and that subtle hint of awareness and humor flashed up at him. It was ridiculously sexy, doubly so more than normal because of the intimate positions they were in. She smirked as her own hand swept down over her breasts, kneading with pressure for a moment, before it continued its journey towards the point where their bodies met. A moment after Vala found her target, she was fingering her clit, circling her own bundle of nerves and it wasn't more than a few heartbeats before she came again. Her muscles spasmed erratically around Cameron, and he groaned, the sensations triggering and overwhelming the last of his control. He thrusts into her once, twice, and then spilled his release as the pleasure peaked high.

He collapsed on top of her, limbs like jelly, body spent. He braced his hands on the mattress beside her, head cradled into the crevice of her neck. She was recovering from the aftershocks of her own orgasm, body twitching every so often. He was dimly aware that his weight might prove too much for her, but she swept a hand across his back, encouraging him to rest for a moment while he recovered. Cameron eventually pulled away, slipping free and dropping heavily beside her against the mattress. His arms hurt and he felt limp and drained of energy, and the urge to curl up and sleep was so overwhelming that a yawn overtook him before he had even recovered his breathing fully.

"You're right," Vala acknowledged just before he drifted into slumber. "I can read you like an open book. You're no liar."

When he woke up again, he found hours had passed and Vala was gone. His boxers lay forgotten at the edge of the bed, and using his toes to snag the material, he eventually settled into bed with his former attire reclaimed. He glanced to the side and found an array of snacks nearby, as well as small note in Vala's familiar handwriting that simply said one thing.

 _Next time you can handcuff me._

Settling back into bed, it was shocking how easily Cameron decided to take that as a promise.

\--x--


End file.
